A Different Kind Of Hurting
by LogicIsTheUltimateWeapon
Summary: Follows DOTM; AU. The war is over, it has to be. And even if the world was saved, so many lives were lost in exchange. The 'bots needed to heal those left wounded; whether themselves or others in need. Autobot/Decepticon ensemble. OC input.


**REMEMBER, this is an AU, so it doesn't necessarily follow the Bayverse plotlines. The only differences is some of the 'bots and 'cons having survived for the sake of plot. The story explains more in detail.**

**And I find myself thinking Optimus was too cruel in the movie instead of his heroic, noble-like self. I know Optimus _has_ to have those dark moments where he has no choice, but I didn't know what to think of him killing his brother and ex-mentor.**

**Anyways, I don't own anything, if I did, I'd be beating Sentinel with a stick by now. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>After the Pain<strong>

This was the aftermath.

Everything after the seemingly endless battle - signs of destruction everywhere, mourning comrades crying for lost ones killed mercilessly, and Pit if he didn't feel exactly like them.

His joints ached, and he could hear his cooling fans whine in his chest, wincing as he heard them strain against their casings in an attempt to cool his overheating body. And so Optimus stood there, one arm rigidly at his side as he caught sight of his two human friends reuniting themselves with one another. His optics shuttered at what he'd just done, and the two chassis haunting him at his sides were making his spark contract in pain - the Matrix of Leadership vibrating within his chest.

From what he was informed of there was only one death - his long time friend and brother-figure - Ironhide. His death was not in vain however, he fought courageously in battle and helped lead the Autobots to victory. Clenching his servos, Optimus gathered himself. There were no other deactivations, and that in itself was a miracle.

There were shouts of victory around him, but he couldn't find it in himself to join in his friends' rejoices. And as he mused deeply about what had happened, he couldn't help the small rumble that escaped him as Ratchet clamped a reassuring servo on his good shoulder.

"You're injured Optimus," He stated first and foremost, a servo already coming up to inspect the gaping hole where the Prime's arm should have been.

A deep exvent, "It seems that I'm not the only one." The Prime observed his CMO's own injuries.

A shake of Ratchet's partly green helm had him tilting his own in confusion. "Your injuries are worse Prime, and it's my duty to tend to those hurt."

Optimus nodded at this, he knew of his long time friend's passion for his job, "I understand, Ratchet. But I think I would feel much better to know that my troops are safe first before you attended to myself."

There was a pause as Ratchet mused, searching for signs in Optimus' optics and on his faceplates, before he took the hint. The medic took the somber look on his leader's face into consideration before muttering and walking towards the others. Optimus chuckled as soon as the enraged yells of the medic sounded as he saw the damage on everyone else, and the blue and red flamed mech made a note to schedule his friend a vacation as soon as possible.

Then, bracing himself, the Prime turned to look at his brother and his ex-mentor.

Megatron and Sentinel.

Kneeling down to their fallen bodies, he trailed the back of his hand over some of their more gruesome injuries. It pained him so to see them like this.

He could still remember grappling with them, their armor cold to the touch. He had taken his own axe and sliced through his brother's chassis. Through his chest, yet not all the way. And while he was fighting, he remembered taking a mili-second to muse. He could have ripped Megatron's helm off, but decided against it and instead ripped his helm armor off, sending the mech into stasis lock.

Optimus couldn't remember what he was thinking at the time. Megatron was still alive, but what now?

Then turning towards his ex-mentor, the flamed mech's intakes hitched.

While he shot Sentinel, he knew there had to be an end. So tempted to avenge those the red mech had hurt, he could have just finished him off so he'd leave them be. However, Optimus was a mech of wisdom, and instead, he shot the other Prime (if he could still be considered that) with one of the 'extreme stun guns' Que had previously supplied him with, designed to take a mech into stasis immediately...

He really should've expected it to explode in the process, it _was_ Que's invention after all.

Though, it's unfortunate it exploded as soon as the charge hit Sentinel's chassis, giving him a more ghastly injury than expected. The mech was not yet deactivated, though he soon may be if medical attention was not supplied within the next human day.

Optimus' pondering was soon interrupted, however, by a questioning ping from Ironhide.

...Ironhide?

Turning his chassis quickly, maybe too quickly as his joints creaked in protest, Optimus instantly sagged in relief as he saw his oldest friend there, leaning against a grumpy Ratchet, but still there. The Prime let out a cry in relief as he saw him alive, although worse-for-wear. Yes, 'Hide had definitely seen better days.

Sending an affirmation ping back, Optimus queried, **::**Primus, 'Hide! I was informed you were deactivated!**::**

A snort followed shortly after, **::**Don't worry, Optimus. Ya cain't get rid o' me that easily. Ya're stuck with meh forever, mech.**::**

Optimus smiled behind his battle mask, **::**Get rest, old friend. I will see you back at base.**::**

The Weapons Specialist nodded curtly, before a grumbling medic helped him hobble off. And it was no surprise that soon after Lennox and his team started to clamber over the Topkick.

"Prime?" Said mech turned as someone called his name from behind, it was the Wreckers, with Sideswipe following behind them.

"Roadbuster, Leadfoot, Topspin, Sideswipe." A nod, "Good job, mechs."

"Thanks, Prime," Sides saluted, "Erm, want us take these guys off your hands?" His clawed servos flexed.

A weary nod, "Take them back to base, and make sure to keep them in stasis. Inform Ratchet that I want them secluded off in his med bay and kept in medical stasis until further orders."

They seemed somewhat disappointed (or was that appalled at having to _touch_ the traitors' bodies?), but followed orders nonetheless.

"Yes sir!" And so the two bodies were hauled away.

As silence filled the void while mechs shuffled from here, to base and vice versa, Optimus felt wary. Looking around, he felt as if they'd failed to keep the humans safe as they promised in exchange for refuge on their planet. There was so much destruction, especially shelter-wise. It would take millions to fix it and the Prime could feel the guilt wearing down on him.

Looking down at himself, the Prime jerked back in surprise at how much damage he had gained. He wouldn't be able to transform like this until he got medical attention, he couldn't risk being stuck in mid-transformation. He wasn't in the mood to have an enraged wrench-wielding medic on his tail.

And it was just then that Optimus realized how suffocating the quiet was. Observing his surroundings, he noted that all the undamaged, non-army-related humans had probably evacuated as fast as they could during the battle, and thankful for that, he realized perhaps they'd be able to keep their existence on the planet a secret for a little while longer.

Then there was a small pinprick on his ped, and he realized it was his human comrade.

"Sam." He greeted before kneeling to get to his level somewhat, "Your bravery is indescribable, and therefore must be rewarded. I thank you with all my spark for your cooperation."

The teenager seemed unused to the praise and chuckled sheepishly with a scratch to the back of his head. "Nah, it was nothing Optimus, but, uh..." He gestured to the rubble behind him, "The superiors were kinda wondering if, well, if we could like, help clean up the mess we made."

Despite his sparking and damaged frame, who was Optimus to say no?

And as the Prime nodded and called for others to come help him, Carly slipped beside Sam and rested her head on his shoulder. "I swear Sam, Optimus works too hard for his own good."

Sam nodded, "I know..." And spotting Bumblebee in the background, the teenager smirked, "Which is why we should call in some reinforcements, don't you think?"

Carly raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "What are you thinking of, Sam?"

"Oh, just... calling a little friend for a favour he owes me." Sam chuckled before running up to Bumblebee to ask if he'd be able to find the cell phone number of said very old, erm, 'friend.'

**...**

These days, nothing really should have surprised Optimus after all these vorns. Yet, the Peterbilt mused, that was on Cybertron. On Earth, it was a whole new ball game.

Sam laughed as he clapped his friend on the back, "Leo! My good man, I haven't seen you in a while! What crimes've you been committing these last few years?" He snickered.

Leo laughed heartily, honestly not looking much different from the last time any of them had seen him - perhaps taller and more mature... Wait, Leo? Mature? Keh, yeah right. He was probably just _tolerable_ now at best.

"Well, Sam. I've been good, yunno. I was forced to shut down my site, because of a certain _someone_," Raising an accusing eyebrow at a sheepishly grinning Samuel, he continued, "But I've been good. Was recently asked to join a column in this hot magazine that's been catching my eye for awhile and let me tell ya, my co-workers are _suh-weet!~_" As he sang out the last word of his sentence, he fist-bumped a chuckling Sam, who was merely smacked over the shoulder by an irritated Carly.

"Yeah, well, that's nice, erm, _Leo_, but I got to ask, where's this crew that you said was coming to help us clean up?" Carly asked, right arm hooked tightly around Sam's left.

As if on cue, about twenty or so men and woman road in on motorcycles. All calling various comments towards the chatting trio.

Leo smirked, "And so, the cavalry arrives! Don't worry, about 20 people will still be arriving later to help with the more 'tedious' of jobs."

"Cavalry, eh?"

A huff, "Yeah, well, okay. It's just some friends from work, they've been dying to come here and start with a clean slate. Man, they're going to get a kick outta this." Leo's voice then took on a much more hushed tone, "Uh, your lil' robot buddies are hiding, right? I'd imagine you don't exactly want anyone to know about them, yet. Heck, I find it amazing no one else has figured it out so far!"

Sam shrugged, "Oh yeah, the Autobots should be on their way back to base by now. And, well, there's probably a lot of people that saw the 'cons and, uh, _survived_, but I'm not too worried. The majority of the human race hasn't seen them, so why should they believe what anyone says now?"

In a complete, deadpan unison, Leo and Carly sighed and looked at him with blank faces, "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Sammy."

Said man looked at them with an exasperated look to which they laughed at.

Optimus looked at the trio as they joked with each other, and smiled gently. Surely, Sam and Carly would be going home soon to rest, and the thought put his own processor at ease. Sighing, and finally resigning to the fact that he was losing energon at an alarming rate, he started the trek back to base. He considered transforming once again, but then made the better choice of not risking it and trudged on, relieved by the fact that no humans were around to see him.

Well, at least that's what he thought.

The Prime had been walking for at least 20 earth minutes when his audio receivers picked up a muffled rustle in a nearby building, followed by a hushed voice whispering frantically. Weapons systems onlining automatically, Optimus tiptoed towards the half-demolished building. Turning up the sensitivity in his audio fins and zooming in his flickering pale blue optics, he spotted movement in the hauntingly dark and silent building.

"Shh!" There was a shadow in the lowest part of the area, squirming restlessly and the leader could see a silhouette of a human through the tinted window. "Ack-_Jarred_, get _back_ here right _now!_ It's dangerous out there!" A small hand made itself known as the window was opened carelessly, and a small toddler tumbled out, giggling and stumbling for all he was worth.

Optimus' spark melted. It was a well known fact to many that the large mech had a weakness for sparklings, Cybertronian - and now human - alike.

The small human seemed very young, maybe four or five years old, and the Prime couldn't help his surprise over the fact it wasn't scared of him. Instead, it let out a loud cry of joy and planted itself onto his ped, happily plopping onto it's belly.

The Prime didn't dare move his foot, he was scared that the slightest shift could hurt the small being currently lying on him. And despite his aching chassis, he stood stock still, waiting for the small one's creator - no, _parent,_ the mech reminded himself - to come and get the young'un.

Through the window a head popped out - it seemed like the father of the small one, and he was obviously tired. Even Optimus could see that, at least, if the bags under his eyes and pale skin was anything to go by. Optimus' optics widened, however, when he saw the man was also injured, a ripped piece of cloth tied loosely around the brown-haired man's shoulder, stained with dried blood. It was amazing the toddler wasn't injured, and no doubt the man had more injuries from protecting his son. Seemingly in his 40s or 50s, too. He looked starving, as well-

"Holy God," The man exclaimed breathlessly, as if in disbelief to what he was seeing. His eyes roamed the Autobot leader's chassis before it landed on his toddler. Poor guy looked like he was going to pass out.

"JARRED! I swear! Get back here right now, or your in some big trouble!"

The toddler whimpered sadly before huffing and trudging off the giant foot back to his daddy. It was ironic, Optimus thought, how the young one was more afraid of his father than himself.

The mechanical being knelt in front of the two, his blue optics dimming as to not scare the duo. Sighing internally at the lecture he was inevitably going to get from the human government, he reluctantly introduced himself to his no-doubt, soon-to-be friends.

"Hello, I am Optimus Prime. And you are?"

The man seemed shell-shocked for a second before he replied, "N-Nathan."

Slowly, the Prime's battle mask retracted so that he could smile amiably at the two. "It's a pleasure to meet you Nathan." There was a pregnant pause where both shifted awkwardly, before, "I know this is sudden, but you need to come with me." Inwardly wincing at how suspicious that sounded, the mech chastised himself.

"Why should I?" The man bit back at him, "Do you honestly expect me to risk my life or my son's life by going along with some robot? Aren't _you_ the guys that destroyed this place?" Nathan seemed ready to crawl back into the building that settled as his shelter for the time being.

"Wait!" Optimus called, "I can give you medical attention!" Really, it wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't exactly a lie either. Because these humans have seen him already, he'd need to bring them back to base, and ask them to keep this a secret. It wasn't exactly something the warm-sparked mech ever looked forward to, quite the opposite actually, depending on who it was being sworn to secrecy.

The man stopped at that, obviously actually thinking about it. OP tensed at this, the man was obviously more injured than he thought if he was considering it - at least if his fiery attitude was anything to go by, even if it was expected.

With one last searching glance to the Cybertronian's faceplate, Nathan nodded curtly. "Okay, we'll all come."

Prime raised an optic ridge at that, perplexed. "_All_ of you?"

The man held up a finger, signalling for the massive 'bot to wait, and plopped his son onto the ground. Looking at him firmly, he stated, "Stay." before disappearing back into the building. There was more shuffling inside as the toddler waited with an impatient pout on his face, cooing his discomfort.

It was a mere 2 minutes before he emerged once again, and a girl appeared him with him. She seemed young, around her pre-teen years perhaps. But Optimus' optics widened as he saw the girl was holding precious cargo in her arms. There lay a baby in her arms, sooo young that the mech was amazed he or she had survived. The girl had minor injuries compared to her father, but she held onto the baby for dear life, even when the Prime could sense her temperature sky rocket and her pulse quicken as she caught site of him.

"I am no expert when it comes to newly created human life, but even I am worried about your son or daughter." He rumbled.

Nathan paused at that, the girl flinching slightly. She murmured, "He's a boy." The baby made no movement, wrapped in blankets as he was.

At least, he didn't until Nathan raised a hesitant hand, as if asking for permission from the girl, who nodded. The hand made contact with the warm flesh of the newborn, caressing reassuringly, and he murmured gently, "He isn't officially mine, but I can't bear to imagine calling him anything other than my son."

The baby cooed, so softly Optimus strained to hear it, and the girl's eyes watered as she sniffled and held the small one closer.

The Prime's spark clenched in sadness, albeit the annoying feeling that he was surely missing something as the man said that. And though his lecture of having two humans exposed to the truth just turned into four, the giant mech just couldn't bring himself to turn them away.

Quickly, he sent the codes for his transformation sequence to start and popped open his door. Part of his alt mode was missing, but he'd deal with that later as he needed to get back to base, fast and with the humans in tow.

Jumping in, they all strapped on the seat belts. Toddler with Nathan, and the newborn with the girl. And even as he drove quickly, Optimus couldn't help but muse on how much of a ragtag group they seemed to be.

* * *

><p>They drove into base quicker than anyone expected, and the Peterbilt literally had to slam on the breaks to avoid hitting anyone. In his interior, the toddler squealed happily at the sudden rush he felt, while Nathan scowled, gripping his son tighter. The pre-teen had her knees tucked up to her chest while she cradled the baby in her arms. Prime knew the baby would have to be the first priority before anything else.<p>

Driving close to the left side of the large corridors in the NEST base, Optimus could feel his engine humming uncomfortably as the exertion put a strain on him, and his added injuries were no help. Yet, the mech drove on.

As the Prime neared the med bay, he was relieved to see that all the other 'bots had already either been taken care of or given separate spaces, secluded off from the med bay, where they recovered if their injuries were extensive. Ratchet was there, nonchalantly polishing his second favourite wrench while his first was no doubt lying in wait for some unfortunate 'bot's helm... which Optimus _reeeaaaally_ hoped wasn't him. Please, Primus, be on his side today!

Hearing the thrum of his tires against ground, Ratch looked up sharply, then saw the flamed peterbilt coming in.

"Optimus! Where have you _been?_ You don't know how worried everyone was, and Ironhide had even suggested sending out a rescue party for you!" The Matrix-bearer could tell there would have been more to the medic's rant, that is until the human's stepped out from in him and stared at him.

The Prime watched in pity as they all tensed as Ratchet ran a quick scan over them, he knew how irritating that could be. Nathan seemed to want to protest, but he was soon cut off by the medic.

"Humans, you're injured, and carrying young offspring..." The medic instantly was kneeling by their side, medical protocols taking over his usual emotional subroutines, and he smiled warmly, offering a servo, "I am a medic, and I can offer you treatment, that is if you can trust me enough."

The girl sighed, short hair moving with the direction her head shook, "We've lost so much already, what else is there to lose?"

Both of the older beings climbed on, newborn and toddler in hand, and Ratchet immediately got to work as Optimus watched somberly in the background.

...

As Ratchet ran scans on the newborn (with the force of them dialed down immensely, of course), the girl stayed by his side. Nathan stayed close to Optimus, leaning on the side of his side door. His son toddled off in front of him, giggling as he wandered around. The small boy beamed as he observed in awe. Everything was so big!

Optimus chuckled at the small one's antics. Curiosity getting the better of him, he asked, "Does he have a name, Nathan?" The Prime vaguely remembered the father saying it earlier.

There was a nod as the man's face stayed neutral while he replied, "His name is Jarred."

At the sound of his name, the toddler giggled and ran over to his dad. He made the traditional grabby hands, to which Nathan was all too happy to oblige and picked him up.

"Mumma?" Jarred asked, cheeks rounding as the toddler huffed.

The flamed mech could feel the man's pulse quicken slightly as he quickly hushed his son's desire.

"Mommy couldn't be here today, Jare," He whispered, to which Jarred retaliated with a teary-eyed whine.

"Muuuuhhmmm," He gurgled, before seemingly remembered another person he wanted, "Nickeh!"

Nathan sighed, before softly murmuring and kissing his son's cheek in a sudden display of affection. "He'll be here to catch up with us soon."

Optimus rumbled in sympathy, before Ratchet called for Nathan and Jarred as it was their turn.

The young girl took Nathan's spot beside Optimus - not touching him, merely staring with a neutral gaze.

Greeting her awkwardly, the Prime muttered, "Hello young one."

Huffing, the girl pointed to herself with her thumb and stated with such an innocence that Prime had to keep himself from chuckling, "I, for one, am not young! I'm 12!"

"I can see that, and I apologize, uh..."

"-Kristen."

"Yes, Kristen." There was a pause, before, "And where is your..."

She interrupted him, "He's my brother; still with your medic robot up there. My mom just gave birth to him two weeks ago, but we were only allowed to bring him home today." Her voice cracked, "I don't know why I'm telling you this, but I have to get it out. So listen, okay?" It was more demanding than the girl had wanted, but that's how it came out.

Thankfully, Optimus was a patient mech. "Of course, I'm always here to lend an audio...ear."

"Right," She started, sniffling. "Well, today we were bringing Caden - the baby - home, and we were all really happy. Nathan over there... I'm still kinda reluctant to call him 'Dad', but... anyways, Nathan was 'sposed to get married to Mom. My mom's name was Maria, by the way.

"And so we were all joyous, going home. I was in the back of the car sitting beside Jarred and Nick (who were my soon-to-be stepbrothers), and Caden, while Mom and Nathan were all comfy in the front.

"I had been introduced to Nathan, Jarred, and Nick months before they got engaged. Jarred's a real cool 4-year-old, and Nick's a decent, albeit annoying, teenager at 17. I was informed that their mom left them right after Jarred was born...

"So as I was saying we were on the road on the way home. But then, an explosion reverberated throughout the road and our car was flipped over. I immediately latched onto Caden as it was my duty and Nathan grabbed Jarred on reflex. When I next woke up after passing out, though, we were in that building you found us in.

"We stayed there for hours, I cried for the majority of them. So you can imagine that we've had a whole day to mourn, and I'd be darned if we both weren't tired of depressing over it already. Also, Nathan had his bag with him and he still had a warm bottle of milk, but we had to use it ASAP or else it wouldn't stay warm for much longer. I was so worried for Caden, but we're here now, and I'm soo happy for that."

After that, the girl swiftly turned her piercing gaze to Optimus and the mech visibly flinched in surprise as soon as the emotional story ended. "So you better know that no matter _WHAT_ I say, that I'll always appreciate those who lend my family and I a hand, okay?"

There was a passion behind those eyes, raging, and Optimus smiled internally.

"No doubt, I will remember Kristen." And again, Optimus couldn't help the guilt at causing so many humans trouble, but hearing such a story first hand made him just downright enraged - at himself and at the Decepticons as well.

He needed to help them.

The Prime was silent again, before he questioned, "Your mom and Nick...did they..."

But before Kristen could reply with anything else she might have had to say, Sam and Carly walked into the room.

"Hey! It's Optimus!" Sam grinned as he neared the two. "Was looking for you, bossbot. I just wanted to tell you Carly and I here were going home now."

Carly huffed and elbowed her boyfriend, "_Aaand_, we also wanted to know if you needed any help before we did!"

Optimus chuckled, a deep laugh within his chassis, and he would have told them there was no need to stay any longer, until he remembered...

"Actually, there is something I need help with while I go get repairs. That is, if you're not tired yet..."

You could hear Sam sigh sadly, before his girl piped up, "Oh no, Optimus. We'd be _glad_," This was punctuated with a glare at Sam, "to help."

"Well, do you think you could show our new human friends around base? This would be an opportune chance to get acquainted with them." You could hear the Prime's voice start to decrease in volume as he fell closer and closer to the luxury that is recharge.

The two teenagers looked over to the new arrivals, just as Nathan arrived with both Jarred and Caden in hand.

With a tired, noncommittal wave, Sam sealed his fate. "Oh don't worry Optimus, we got it covered. You get better now, alright?"

Optimus rumbled in appreciation and gratefulness as the quartet visibly relaxed as the two humans went to them and started chatting 'em up. They were probably glad to see those of their species here, unharmed, hopefully building the trust Prime needed - to make beginnings easier, of course. Familiarity was comfort to them as humans.

It was as the family left with Sam and Carly in tow that Optimus rumbled sheepishly in his chest, catching Ratchet's attention.

"Ratchet..." He began, almost nervously. "I'm stuck."

The CMO raised an optic ridge, "Optimus? You're stuck in wha-" And just then the truth hit him. There was a doomed pause.

And oh Primus, how Optimus enjoyed that silence before his audio receivers started to ring in pain.

"YOU PIT SPAWNED HELLION OF A PRIME! YOU TRANSFORMED DESPITE OF YOUR FRAGGIN' INJURIES AND NOW YOU EXPECT ME TO REPAIR YOU? YOU'RE LUCKY I'M A MEDIC OR I WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN SPARED A SECOND GLANCE TO YOUR SORRY AFT!" And even despite Optimus' injuries, if he was well enough to not faint from energy depletion, then he was well enough to hit with a wrench in Ratchet's book.

*THWACK!*

Lesson learned. You never piss off the Hatchet, no matter how charitable you've been.

* * *

><p><strong>So, anyone want to see this continued? This is the first story I've done with OCs, and I didn't want to lay them on so much until the ending.<strong>

**If I do add a next chapter, I'd imagine having it focusing a LOT on the 'bots and then the 'cons, with a little surprise at the end.**

**So... good? Horrible? So bad you wanted to claw your eyes out? Review please, constructive criticism welcome, but flames will be dealt with by a certain wrench-wielding medic.**


End file.
